Kimberly Sams Gray serves as Deputy Director of the Southern States Energy Board (SSEB) and Secretary & Chief Operating Officer of Southern Energy and Environmental Center, Inc. She provides senior executive leadership supporting SSEB’s member-driven mission through energy policy, interstate coordination, workforce development, and execution of major state, federal, and public-private initiatives. As Deputy Director and previously as Managing Director, Kimberly serves as the principal deputy to the Secretary and Executive Director, providing leadership across operations, strategic initiatives, financial stewardship, member engagement, and organizational management. 

Over thirty-two years of service, Kimberly has advanced through progressively responsible operational, technical, managerial, and senior leadership positions, helping guide the evolution of one of the nation’s oldest interstate energy compact organizations. Her experience spans organizational leadership, strategic planning, governance support, business development, financial stewardship, workforce advancement, stakeholder engagement, communications oversight, regulatory coordination, and execution of complex multi-state initiatives. 

Kimberly has established trusted relationships with governors’ offices, legislative leaders, regulators, state energy officials, university leadership, federal agencies, industry executives, and technology developers through the years. These longstanding relationships provide the Board with direct access to key decision-makers and subject matter experts, strengthening the organization’s ability to convene stakeholders, build consensus, advance collaborative initiatives, and address member-state priorities. 

Throughout her career, Kimberly has developed, secured, managed, or directed a cumulative project portfolio exceeding $1 billion in state, federal, and public-private initiatives involving resource development, subsurface systems, industrial infrastructure planning, advanced energy systems, critical minerals, workforce initiatives, and emerging technologies. Many of these investments were deployed through subrecipient awards, vendor agreements, university partnerships, state agency participation, and private-sector collaboration, generating substantial measurable economic benefits across SSEB’s member-state footprint. 

As the Board’s senior geologist, Kimberly has directed multidisciplinary teams involving state agencies, energy companies, private utilities, rural electric cooperatives, engineering firms, universities, national laboratories, regulatory and legal professionals, GIS and data specialists, finance and grants administration personnel, communications professionals, economic development organizations, and community-based networks. Her leadership emphasizes service, stewardship, collaboration, accountability, and investment in people. 

Among the most significant initiatives advanced during her tenure was her service as Co-Principal Investigator for the 20-year, $400+ million Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership, one of seven across the nation. Through SSEB’s leadership role, the partnership achieved many first-of-its-kind milestones, advancing innovative energy demonstrations, subsurface data collection and monitoring technologies, engineering and design, infrastructure planning and construction, legal and regulatory analysis, workforce development, and nationally recognized best-practices guidance that informed future efforts. Most important, this work was adopted and commercially scaled up to become the Petra Nova facility located at the W.A. Parish Generating Station, southwest of Houston, Texas. 

Kimberly regularly provides technical, policy, and strategic support to governors’ offices, legislative leaders, state agencies, and regulatory bodies. She develops and delivers presentations, technical briefings, executive reports, and public communications for audiences ranging from governors, legislators, Members of Congress, and regulatory officials to industry executives, researchers, and community stakeholders, translating complex technical and policy issues into actionable information for decision-makers. 

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Geology from Georgia State University and a Project Management Training Certificate from the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University. Her leadership philosophy is rooted in service to member states, stewardship of public resources, collaboration, open communication, accountability, and investment in people. She remains committed to preserving SSEB’s mission-driven culture while positioning the organization to address emerging opportunities and challenges on behalf of the states and territories it serves.